A trifle is a great choice for any occasion: on a sunny, spring weekend, it will be the perfect dessert to gladden yours – and yourself – with and here is how to make it!
Try to remove the rind of the lemon in one piece. Warm the milk and the lemon rind until it starts bubbling, then set the saucepan aside and let it cool. Put the sugar and egg yolk in a bowl, combine them and add the flour. Very slowly, add the lukewarm milk and keep stirring until all the lumps are gone. Add the mixture to the saucepan, bring it to the boil and keep whisking till it thickens. Transfer the whole thing to a glass or ceramic bowl, let it cool for 5-10 minutes, then cover it with cling wrap, let it touch the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but it’s better to do it for a day before making the trifle.
Assembling the trifle: Using an electric mixer, whisk the cream and mascarpone together until it completely softens, then refrigerate. Mix the Pimm’s with ½ a cup of water in a bowl. Spread one side of each sponge finger with lemon curd and dunk the opposite side in the Pimm’s. Lay the sponge fingers in the base of a glass serving bowl. Remove the lemon rind from custard, then spread over the top, followed by the strawberry compote plus the cream. Decorate the top with the rest of the strawberries and some pistachio. Cover loosely with cling wrap ad refrigerate overnight.
Serves 10-12
Custard
rind of 1 lemon
3¾ cups full-cream milk
4 large egg yolks
4 tbsp caster sugar, heaped
4 tbsp flour, heaped
Trifle
1 cup cream
1 cup mascarpone
½ cup Pimm’s
150g lemon curd
250g Savoiardi (sponge finger) biscuits
150g shelled, natural pistachios
Via yen